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IR K ]SI 7*^ R K S 



OF THE 



'CONAUG-HY, 



SENATOfi FROM ADAMS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES, 

OlA THE RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE ACTION OF THE 

UNITED STATES SENATE IN REINSTATING E. M. 

STANTON AS SECRETARY OP WAR. 



r)l::LIVERED JANUARY 21, 1868. 



Mr. Davis (ot'Be^:ks) having in the course 
tJf his remarks spoken as follows : 

'•\V(5 know that sometimes a scavenger 
must be employed to do dirty work. But it 
is not customary anionj^; gentlemen to treat 
Jiim as an equal, much less to eulogize him 
as a su'jierior being." 

"This base cruelty, committed by Edwin 
M. iStanloa, will cling to him living, like tlie 
poisonoJ shirt, and dying, sink him deeper in 
iho bottomless pit than ever was sunk an or- 
dinary murderer." 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY_. Mr. Speaker, the 
Senator from Berks [Mr. Davjs] has well 
said, that, a scavenger is needed when dirty 
work is to be done. Sir, I will not dispute 
lliat proposition with him. He has demon- 
strated it now and here beyond all doubt. 
Sir, there must be something beneath ^11 this 
bitter hatred — this malignity v^hich is so in- 
tense and fearful that it would seem as if it 
could only have emanated from that being 
whose presence the Senator summoned into 
this Chamber, when he endeavored to solve 
his enigma. The spirit that is here exhibited 
is so malignant tJiat it could only have 
emanated from those dejiths in which that 
spirit of evil, that great prototype and univer- 
sal symbol of malignity delights to breathe 
and live. And, sir, to a careful and observ- 
ant man there is, something deeper than all 
this, underlying this vidictive ebullition. 
Why this hatred, why this animosity, why 
this spirit which in cold blood would strip 
the skin from the victim from his scalp to his 
toe ! Sir, it is that spirit which is more dan- 
gerous to American liberty than 'anything 
else of which we have ever read or 
dreamed — the bitter malignity of po- 
litical hatred. That spirit is more danger- 
ous to the success of the cause, of republican 



liberty, than all other adverse inflaences which 
it has to encounter. 

When, sir, the future historian comes to 
write the name of Edwin M. Stanton among 
the great ones of the age, when he seeks a 
legend with which to express the character o^ 
that man, he will inscribe upon his historical 
monument these words: "This man lovcc; 
his country more than party." There, sir, i. 
the solution of the whole question. It is '<■ 
this they hate him. 

Sir, go back to 1860, to the epoch when re- 
bellion threatened and the Government "vni, 
under the administration of a Democratic 
President, Mr. Buchanan. Who were his 
counsellors? Democrats, all. What did 
they, sir, when the hour of peril came ? Did 
they stand by the Government? What did 
his Democratic Secretary of the Treasury, 
Howell Cobb? He withdrew from his place 
in the cabinet "on account tif his duty to 
Georgia." What did his Democratic Minis- 
ter of War, John B. Floyd? After attempt- 
ing to rob the Government of the arms for 
its defense, and thus securing to himself the 
un iviable epitliet of 'the thief,' he withdrew 
"because the President declined to order the 
garrison from the harbor of Charleston alto- 
gether." 

Sir, what did the Democratic Attorney Gen- 
eral, Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania? 
He made vacant his office after seeking in a 
State paper to demonstrate that the Govern- ' 
ment could not coerce a State in order to 
crush rebellion and preserve its own existence. 
Sir, it was at that time that Mr. Buchanan, that 
poor, miserable, tottering old man at the helm 
of State, without moral courage enough to 
stand by the land which gave him birth, 
and invested him with the highest office in its 
gift, in his extremity called to his aid that 
noble and courageous man, Edwin M. Stan- 



^^4T 



ton. He invited him into his cabinet at the 
recommen'^ation of Judge Black. He came 
at the summons and stood amid that band of 
conspirators, like an unwelcome spectre at a 
council. He told them to their teeth that they 
were the assassins of liberty, and that he 
would stand by the Government, let them do 
as they would. He held up that old man who 
would have fallen into the yawning gulf of per- 
dilion which gaped before him, had it not 
been for the brave and patriotic Stanton. 
There is one thing about this man's history 
that must have impressed every intelligent 
reader of American politics. At the close of 
Mr. Buchanan's administration, in the mo- 
ment of imminent danger, he is called into 
the cabinet alone on account of his pre-emi- 
nent abilities. All through the administrar 
tion of Mr. Lincoln he was his chosen and 
constant trusted counsellor and minister at the 
head of the department of wdr, both during 
his first term and his second, until stricken 
down by the hand of an assassin. And even 
then, when the apostate reached the Presiden- 
tial chair, he leaned and relied upon the Sec- 
retary of War, sir, because of his prominent 
abilities which, during all these years of war 
-_j J igj,^ ^g^g ^j. i,^yj^|yjj{^jg important- 
Ill •, e country. i 
_Su, wv aeed nothing more than his public 
bistory, nothing more than the unwilling 
Iribule from the Buchanan administration, 
rom the present administration to sig- 
i— .- . iLc virtues and services of Edwin M. 
Stanton. Sir, it is because he would not 
abandon hiscountry, because he stood by the 
cjuuti-y of his birth and his love in utter disre- 
gard of his olden party ties ; it is for this reason 
that gentlemen on the other side of the cham- 
ber cannot find -language to express their 
hatred of him. What does the Senator from 
Berks resort to in his vain ofiort to sustain 
the bill of indictment which he has brought 
against him ? He resorts to the irresponsible 
and ephemeral writings of a nev/spaper cor- 
respondent. He takes up Mr. Brown, or Mr. 
Smith, or some other penny-a-liner who is 
engaged in correspondence v/ith • one of 
the city dailies— he produces him aS' his 
solitary witness against the man v/ho, by the 
devotion of his great talents and years 
of unceasing labor, has proven his fidelity 
to the interests of this country, and who has 
stood through this war a monument of loy- 
alty and dauntless courage and patriotic de- 
votion. Sir, there is one cbaracteristicTof Ed- 
win M. Stanton I admire above all others, and 
that is, that glorious backbone — that spirit 
of patriotic resolve— that firm, unflinching 
bravery — with which he stood, ever fearless 
and bold, to fight, and fall if need be, battling 
with the enemies of his country. 

I was astounded, Mr. Spealcer, that the 
gentleman should have read what he did in 
the audience of this Senate. When he was 



rehearnii)g those deeds of horrid crueJiy, he 
was reading to us the acts of his frieo-ds — 
of the members of his own political paJi'ty, 
the Southern Democracy of this country — the 
elegant gentlemen of *his country — the aristr*^ 
cratic Democrats of this land — the men wIW)» 
have left a blot upon the American character,, 
which all the waters of the earth cannot w^^shi 
out. 

Mr. BURNETT. I desire to ask the gen- 
tleman one question, if he believes the New ■ 
York Tribune association would employ the . 
services of a rebel for its correspondent dur- 
ing the rebellion ? 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY. Not consciously, 
although I have no doubt that it did. But, 
sir, I believe 1 am not apprehended by the 
Senator [Mr. Burnett]. I was speaking of 
the high-toned gentlemen who conducted the 
rebel prisons of the South; those prisoHpens 
which have become a part of the history of 
this rebellion ; those prison pens of which 
Jefferson Davis, formerly a Democratic 
United States Senator, and the Democratic 
Lee, were not unconscious and not unknow- 
ing ; those prisons, sir, which have stained 
with infamy the people of the South, who un- 
dertook to destroy this Republic, and erect 
upon its ruins a grander government ; one 
which should have a black foundation and a 
white pinnacle ; the same party that now iti 
the North arrogates to itself the classic epi- 
thet of the White Man's Party. 

Why, sir, the question involved here is one 
that ought not to have called for such a tor- 
rent of defamation upon the Minister of War. 
As I understand it, the question is simply 
this : Under the Constitution the President's 
cabinet advisers are to be appointed with the 
advice and consent of the Senate. Congres.'s 
from time to time has made statutory regula- 
tions for carrying out that provision of the 
Constitution. The Pi-esident is to nominate- 
and the Senate is to confirm, if in its judg- 
meet it can approve. 

Now, sir, Mr. Johnson undertook to sus- 
pend Mr. Stanton as Secretary of War from 
the exercise of his office for reasons which, 
under the Constitution, he presented as sulH- 
clent. But the Senate sitting upon the 
reasons assigned, has pronounced that they 
were not sufficient. Aiid hence this din and 
outer)' about a violation of the Constitution by 
the action of the Senate. Sir, I wish it to be 
known, when this country was in imminent 
danger, and when tke issue came whether it 
should exist or not; when the question was 
wkether this Republic, in addition to the other 
excellencies of human governments, had the 
inherent power which was necessary for its 
own maintenance againstall enemies, external 
and internal — when that issue was to be de- 
cided there was in the Presidential chair a 
Democratic President. That question arose, 
and Mr. Buchanan, the then- President, an- 



fiwered it thns. I read from his message, in 
December, 1860: 

"The question fairly stated is, has the Con- 
stitution delegated to Congress the power to 
(•oerce a State into submission which has at- 
tempted to withdraw or has actually with- I 
drawn from the confederacy. After much seri- 
ous reflection I have arrived at the conclu- ' 
sion that no such power has been delegated 
to Congress, nor to any other department of j 
the Federal Government." ; 

Mr. BURNETT, I desire to interrupt { 
the gentleman. Will the Senator alllow me ! 
to ask it? 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY. If it is pertinent j 
to the question I am discussing i 

KFf, BURNETT. Did not the New York \ 
Tribune take the same position ? 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY. I am not the keeper 
of the New York Tribune, and I would not 
be the keeper of the man who became bail 
for Jefferson Davis. 

I was attempting to show the position of 
the Democratic party by the utterances of its 
President, when this issue was forced upon 
the country. "After much serious reflection 
I have arrived at the conclusion that no such 
l«)wer has been delegated to Congress nor 
in any other departm^it of the Federal 
<iovernment." Now, just at that crisis Mr. 
Stanton was called to advise the President. 
Mr. Stanton entertained no such doctrine. 

He believed that this Government had the 
power to coerce a State ; the people believed 
it, and the country believed it. And the 
strong arms of the noble men of this country 
made it a historical fact that this nation can 
and will coerce and suppress every power 
that would stand in the pathway of its pro- 
gress. 

Now, sir, I propose to look, for only one 
instant, at the attitude of the Democratic 
party four years later than the advent of the 
rebellion. I desire that history shall not be 
forgotten. And in this connection, I read 
from the speech of Henry Clay Dean, made 
in the Democratic National Convention, held 
at Chicago, in 1864 : 

"For three years Lincoln has been calling 
for men and with all the armies placed at his 
command be has failed, failed, failed ; such 
a failure has never been known, such a de- 
.stTuction of human life has never been known 
.Mnce the destruction of Sennacherib by the 
breath of the Almighty." 

This is the charge made by one of its lead- 
ers, who was cheered to the echo in that 
Democratic National Convention, in the 
midst of a terrible war when the existence of 
the nation had become a question of doubt, 
iMid the Government was struggling for life. 
1 read further from his speech : 
'Still the monsterusurperwanted raoremeu 
for his slaught'jr pens. Ever since the usurp- 
er, triiitor, and tyrant had occupied the Pres- 



idential chair, the Republican party bait 
shouted war to the knife and the knife to th^ 
hilt ! Blood had flown in torrents, anW yet 
the thirst of the old monsterwas not quenched. 
His cry was for more blood." 

That is but one of the many like haranguer, 
that were freely uttered in that convention. 
And the resolutions breathed the same spirit. 
I will ask the Clerk to read the second reso- 
lution, known as the second platform of the 
Democratic party, adopted in the Chicago. 
Convention of 1864. 

The Clerk read the resolution as follows:: 
'■'Resolved, That this Convention does ex- 
plicitly declare, as the sense of the American 
people, that after four years of failure to restore 
the Union by the experiment of war, during 
which, under the pretense of a military ne- 
cessity, of a war power higher than the Con- 
stitution, the Constitution itself has been dis- 
regarded in every part, and public liberty and 
private right alike trodden down, and the ma- 
terial prosperity of the country essentially 
impaired, justice, humanity, liberty, and the 
public welfare demands thatimmediate efforts 
be made for a cessation of hostilities, with a 
view to an ultimate convention of all thp. 
States, or other peaceable means, to the end 
that, at the earliest practicable moment, peace 
may be restored on the basis of the Federal 
Union of the States." 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY. "Cessation of hos- 
tilities!" "Peace!" "Peace!" when the 
armed hosts of the rebellion, bold, insolent 
and defiant, were threatening the very capital 
of the Ration, aye, thundering at its gates ! 
What man, or what woman, within the 
sound of my voice has forgotten that summer 
of 18G4? Sir, it was a time that tried the 
hearts of all true men in this nation. It was 
a time when the most hopeful, the most loyal, 
the most ardent, began to doubt and to trem- 
ble with apprehension for the result. And, 
sir, the nations of the earth — the old monar- 
chies and despotisms across the sea — were 
gazing with anxious interest, hoping for the 
downfall of this young republic. Then it was 
that the Democracy of the land, in national 
convention assembled, in the audience of the 
world, passed these resolutions, declaring 
them to be the sense of the American people ! 
. But, sir, the great, loyal heart of the coun- 
try repudiated and scorned them. The noble 
and true men of the nation rallied again, as 
if. aroused to a new energy, and rushed 
to the rescue. They sustained President 
Lincoln nobly, with a majority of four hun- 
dred thousand votes. Again he was inaugu- 
rated President of the United States, and 
trusted, honored and revered by the people 
for his single-hearted, patriotic devotion, I 
desire to aild, sir, in this connection, that 
when the Senator from Berks [Mr, Davis] 
and his confreres assaulted and denounced 
Mr. Stanton as the Secretary of War, they 



issa\iUed and defamed the noble and sainted 
Lincoln. Mr. Stanton, in the conduct of the 
War Department, received the most hearty 
and constant concurrence and approval of the 
1 resident. I iim aware that it is within the 
personal knowledge of the Senator from Erie 
[Mr. Lowry], that at the very period so se- 
verely criticised by the Senator from Berks, 
the course of Mr, Stanton in regard to the 
exchange of prisoners was thoroughly and 
cordially approved by President Lincoln. I 
sippeal to the Senator from Erie if such is not 
his personal knowledge. 

Mr LOWRY. That is mv personal 
knowledge. 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY. Then, air, when 
.Senators rudely assault },lr. Stanton, they 
attack with him the man whose name is never 
uttered but with love and reverence by all 
true sons of America. Where is the man, 
et his political status be what it may, who 
has forgotten the day that the telegraph car- 
ried throughout the whole length of this 
country the intelligence that a Democratic 
assa^sni had struck down the President of 
the United States in the capital of the nation? 
A thrill of horror ran throughout this land. 
Men sorrowed as though thev had lost their 
lirothers or their fathers. ^Voraen wept and 
.■strong men wept. And, sir, who was that 
man who committed this great crime? He 
was an insignificant actor. Individually he 
was nobody; but he was a representative 
character. He was a type of a sentiment 
that tien actuated and pervaded manv. We 
have a reflection of his spirit even here. He 
was s man with whom those who now assault 
Ldvviri M. Stanton liave more sympathy than 
iliey ha<d for President Lincoln, living or 
dead. It cannot be mistaken. This strug- 
gle in this Republic has been so bitter thattt 
has gone down to the depths of the heart, 
and it cannot soon die out. 

I have been betrayed into more than 1 in- 
t<>nded tosay. I rose because an honest in- 
• liguation would not permit me to remain in 
•ny scat, as it wa;i my wish to <lo, throughout 
this discussion. ' . 

Sir, I have felt every year of my lifo, since"! 
the rebellion was stricken down, a love and I 
devotion for the men and the cause which ! 



saved this Union, which deepensandgrowsoon 
tinually stronger. AVhatsaved this country ? I 
! was nothing more or less than the action and tilt 
unfaltering devotion of the Republican party, 
and the trije men who, loving country more 
than olden party ties, rushed to swell its num- 
bers, when the war commenced. It was the 
great Republican party that rallied to the de- 
fense of the Government, and beneath its 
standard there came also such men as Geary, 
Stanton, and Holt, and Sickles, and Lo<^an; 
and Meade, and Grant, and Butler. [Laugliter 
on the Democratic side of the Senate.] 

Mr. M'CONAUGHY. Aye," Butler, hatJ 
him as you will, and a host of others whop*^ 
will not take time to enumerate. M^fiTsir. 
who, when the issue was between,jK)untrya.«f' 
party, did not for a moment hesitete to-decidfc 
for and stand by their country aud against all 
its enemies. 



And, sir, the anathemas that have proceed] 
ed from the Vatican were never so bitter as 
those which proceed from the Democratic 
party, and which are hurled by the self con- 
stituted leaders against all who dare to prefer 
country before it. It reijuired true nK.ral 
courage, sir, not only to confront the enemy 
from without, buf to break nnay fio.M all tlic 
strong ties and associations of party and to 
brave the relentless hatred and rancor with 
which the Democracy pursue all who have 
the shameless effrontery to rpfuse obedienc<> 
to its behests. Men who have had moral 
courage enough to brave and to endure all 
this were not the men to ftilter, and to palter 
in a double sense, when traitors in its coun- 
cils proposed to destroy this Union. 

Now, sir, I have simply to conclude with 
the remark, that, the great, glorious and j.a- 
triotic heart of the country will uphold tli.i 
men who fought out this war, both in th. 
Cabinet and in the iield. But, sir, although 
they may erect to them a monument, stone 
upon stone, riaing and swelling in grand and 
beautiful proportions, until its glorious pin- 
nacle will even pierce above the clouds, to 
where eternal sunshine shall rest upon itr, 
head, yet they cannot prevent the toad and 
the reptile from leaving their slimc upon its 
base. 



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